Warlords Beads

Virginia Walton Pilegard. Pelican Publishing Company, $15.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-56554-863-3

Last year, Virginia Walton Pilegard's The Warlord's Puzzle explained the origins of the tangram. Now, detailing a boy's attempts to count the warlord's treasure, she investigates another mathematical invention, the abacus, in The Warlord's Beads, illus. by Nicolas Debon. A historical note traces the tool to 14th-century China; instructions for making your own abacus are included. (Sept.)

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